About Freddie...

Freddie was born in Lochapoka, Alabama, one of fifteen children, in a family of sharecroppers. His only schooling was first and second grade in Phenix City, Alabama. Experience had been his teacher; he did a little bit of everything back then--from working in the fields to the steel and cotton mills, then being a lumberjack; even washed a lot of dishes and flipped a lot of burgers as a short order cook.

He was twelve years old when he went into the Civilian Conservation Corps for a year, then at age fourteen he enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after the outbreak of World War II. During that war he campaigned in Guam and Iwo Jima as a soldier in the third Marine Division, 4th Battalion, 12th Marines.

He learned acrobatics and studied Jujitsu at a very early age, then went into the Judo Division and held the 4th to 6th Degree Don Black Belt. He taught some in the Marine Corps and some when he got out. However, Freddie claimed to be a lover, not a fighter. He explained: "...there is too much hurt in the world, already."

Freddie Hart wasn't one to sit around and watch the world go by; he remained active throughout his life, commuting back and forth between his home in Burbank, California and Nashville, Tennessee where he recorded his music. Freddie and his wife managed and ran their own publishing company; he still performed concerts until 2018.

In his spare time, he was a prolific painter, painting mostly memories of his childhood; those strong roots kept him firmly grounded; his faith in God kept him humble; and his love for friends and family kept him strong...after all, they don't call him "Mr. Easy Lovin" for nothing; Freddie was the real deal.

Freddie started his recording career with Capitol Records in 1953. He has been on Columbia, Kapp, Monument, Sunbird and Capitol three different times and had his own record label, Hartline Records.

Freddie Hart won almost every award Country Music has to offer. The Academy of Country Music honored him with five awards in 1972 including Entertainer of the Year; Artist of the Year; Song of the Year; Album of the Year & Single of the Year.

In 1971 and 1972, his hit song "Easy Lovin" was chosen song of the year by the Country Music Association, this being the first time in country music history that the same song was so honored two years in a row.

Freddie had fourteen number one singles, thirty four top ten singles and has recorded forty three plus albums. Freddie's songs are on play lists and on radio stations somewhere all over the world every single day and have been since his first recording session in 1953.

The list never ends as to the great artists who have recorded Freddie Hart songs; a few of them include: George Morgan, Carl Smith, Kenny Rogers, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, Billy Walker, Tammy Wynette, David Frizzell, Connie Smith, Wayne Newton, Rose Maddox, Joe & Rose Lee Maphis, John Prine, Ray Stevens, Porter Wagoner...among many, many others. Freddie's first number one song was "Loose Talk" recorded by Carl Smith in 1955.

The Story Behind Easy Loving...

The song "Easy Loving" was written and recorded by Freddie Hart. It was released in the summer of 1971. It was Freddie's breakthrough hit. And it actually happened by accident.

Freddie had moderate success at best prior to this song. Capitol Records had decided to drop his contract. Then a disc jockey at Atlanta, Georgia radio station WPLO began playing "Easy Loving" to great response. The song quickly caught on nationwide, and by that August, "Easy Loving" had broke into the top ten on the charts.

On September 11, 1971, it was his first number one song, spending three weeks atop the chart. But these three weeks were not consecutive; its time at the top was interrupted between its first and second weeks for Tom T. Hall's "The Year Clayton Delaney Died."

The Country Music Association bestowed Song of the Year honors upon "Easy Loving" in both 1971 and 1972. In addition to all of its awards and honors, "Easy Loving" sparked Hart's career. After quickly being re-signed by Capitol Records, Hart went on to score five more consecutive number one hits.

And one last piece of interesting facts about this song, it was the first song in the history of country music to use the word "sex" in the lyrics.